Govt all set with new anti-poverty program
Govt all set with new anti-poverty program
JAKARTA (JP): The government is ready to launch another poverty alleviation program next month that will cover nearly five million families around the country.
The program, called Kredit Usaha Kesejahteraan Rakyat (People's Prosperity Business Credit), or Kukesra for short, will involve extending credits to help poor families start their own businesses. Families will initially receive a modest sum of Rp 20,000 (US$8.70), which will multiply each time it is repaid within four months.
State Minister of Population Haryono Suyono, whose office is supervising the Kukesra program, said President Soeharto has extended a loan of Rp 100 billion ($44 million) to launch the program.
The program is the second initiative of the President after his Presidential Aid for Backward Villages (IDT) program, which aimed at attacking poverty at its roots.
The IDT, launched in April 1994, covers areas with large populations of poor people. Villages not covered by the IDT program will have access to the Kukesra program.
Government figures show that as many as 26 million Indonesians are currently living below the official poverty line.
Haryono, who is also chairman of the National Family Planning Board, told reporters in his office that the Kukesra program is expected to initially cover five million families, rising to 11.5 million eventually.
The Kukesra program is an extension of the government's Tabungan Kesejahteraan Rakyat (People's Prosperity Savings) campaign, which was designed to encourage poor people to take up the habit of saving.
Selected Takesra participants must have a savings of at least Rp 2,000 to be entitled for the initial loan of Rp 20,000. Haryono cited the preparation of pecel (a vegetable dish similar to gado gado) as an example of a business that could be financed with a small loan.
The borrowers must repay the loan within four months, and strive to double their savings during that period to Rp 4,000.
During the second round, they will be entitled to loans amounting to Rp 40,000. The credit ceiling will gradually increase in line with the growth of their business.
The government has appointed Bank BNI 46 to handle the loans. The bank will work with PT Pos Indonesia, the state post office company whose branches in nearly every village in the country position it perfectly to distribute the funds.
Haryono gave the technical details of the program yesterday before Director General of Tax Fuad Bawazier and officials from the Ministry of Social Services, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Office of the Minister of National Development Planning and House members of Commission VIII for population issues. Also present at the briefing were representatives of Bank BNI 46 and PT Pos Indonesia.
Haryono said the Takesra fund will be replaced in April when a new fund, called the Dana Sejahtera Mandiri, will be set up with money donated by the country's biggest corporate and individual taxpayers.
The Dana Sejahtera Mandiri fund was set up after President Soeharto appealed to those with annual after-tax incomes over Rp 100 million to donate two percent of their wealth to help finance the government's fight against poverty.
Haryono said the fund will be established once all the prospective participants send in their tax returns at the end of the fiscal year on March 31. (01)